Cucking The Demon King
Chapter 131: An illusion

Chapter 131: An illusion

There was a pause. Eva seemed to consider her answer carefully.

"I told you," she said at last, "I owed someone a favor. And I’m not the type to leave debts unpaid."

In truth, she was gambling. She had no idea what Liam’s plans were, or if he even considered her anything more than a passing nuisance.

But she had seen enough to know that power like his could tear through the order itself. And if siding with him—even indirectly—meant survival, then she would take that chance.

She would carve a new path forward, away from the mess of the cult she once followed. Even if it meant being hunted by both sides.

Emerald still didn’t lower her sword, though her stance became less rigid. Her thoughts raced. This woman had saved them. That was undeniable. But her power, her demeanor, her mana—it was all steeped in darkness.

She didn’t feel the same as the heretics they’d fought... but that didn’t make her trustworthy.

And the way she looked at them... like someone who saw the battlefield from a distance, as though she wasn’t part of it. That was the scariest kind of person.

Still, Emerald knew they didn’t have the luxury of enemies in this place. Not now.

She exhaled slowly, lowering her sword a few inches. "I don’t trust you."

Eva smiled. "That’s fair."

"But I won’t attack you," Emerald continued, "not unless you give me a reason to."

"I’ll take that as a compliment," Eva said with a slight bow.

Elsa, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up. "So... where exactly are we?"

Eva turned to her. "A safe house," she said. "One of many hidden around the old villages. You shouldn’t worry, no one can find us here."

Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "And you expect us to believe you’re just letting us rest here?"

Eva shrugged. "You can believe what you want. But I haven’t lied to you."

Emerald glanced around the room again. The place was surprisingly neat—clean furniture, fresh air, no ominous mana leaking from the walls. Nothing like the death-filled chambers they’d come from.

Still, unease sat heavy in her chest.

Eva turned to the center of the room, casually brushing her fingers across the back of a chair as she walked.

"You’ll be safe here," she said. "There’s no way he could track us here."

Emerald blinked. "How are you so sure?"

Eva gave a light smirk. "I already told you, I know my way around the village very well, even places the order don’t know about."

Emerald’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything else.

Though she didn’t completely trust Eva, the truth was that she indeed helped them, saving them from the jaws of the man.

"An heretic helping us... I never expected this," Lela mumbled.

Eva stopped mid-step and slowly turned to her, amused. "You’d be surprised by a lot of things you won’t expect."

Emerald folded her arms. "Why go through all this trouble? I get you’re trying to repay your debts to whoever you owe, but I still feel leaving us there was the best option."

After all they had been through, she had gotten very paranoid, finding if hard to believe an heretic would just help them for nothing in return.

If possible, she would like the know the person Eva owed her favour to.

Were they from the church also? Or could it be someone on this mission?

From how the three girls with her were reacting, she was sure none of them had and idea who Eva was.

At least not until now.

Eva didn’t answer right away. Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the chair before she let out a quiet breath.

"You don’t have to trust me knight," she said softly, "I’m only repaying a debt I owe."

"Just stay here and recover as much as you can."

Emerald’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn’t press the topic.

If the woman really to harm them, she felt like she could have done so from the start.

For now, she would take the moment of calm that had been offered. Even if it came wrapped in shadow.

But just as her muscles began to relax, Emerald’s gaze slowly shifted.

Her head turned sharply toward the far wall of the room, her eyes narrowing into slits. The motion was sudden—instinctive. Like a hunter catching the scent of prey.

The rest of the girls stiffened slightly, following her line of sight.

The room itself seemed normal. Wooden walls, a carpeted floor, an old bookshelf filled with dusty tomes, and a lantern flickering overhead.

But Emerald didn’t relax. Her stare remained locked on the wall like it had whispered something to her. Like it had moved.

Eva, who had been leaning casually near a small table, turned slightly.

Her expression didn’t shift, but something about the stillness in her body suggested alarm.

She watched Emerald carefully out of the corner of her eye, suppressing the instinctive urge to move between her and the wall.

’She can’t have noticed... right?’ She thought, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Eva’s fingers lightly tapped the wooden table. It was meant to ground her, to remind herself to stay calm, composed. But a thread of anxiety wormed through her chest.

Because the truth was—this place wasn’t a house.

Not really.

The flickering lantern? Fake. The table she leaned against? Illusion.

Even the soft rug beneath their boots didn’t exist.

They weren’t standing in a quaint, hidden safehouse like Eva had claimed.

They were inside a cave. Deep underground. Its rocky walls were covered in old moss, its floor cracked and uneven.

The damp chill in the air—something Eva had carefully hidden with her spell.

It had taken a significant chunk of her mana and all her concentration to maintain the illusion this long. Even the door she walked through moments ago was fake, created to maintain consistency.

’Living in caves... such is the life of heretics,’ she thought bitterly.

Shunned by society. Hunted by the Church. Heretics could never live openly.

They made their homes in the shadows, in abandoned ruins, and hidden underground tunnels. Constantly moving, never staying too long. Always watching their backs.

Eva had built this illusion as a courtesy. A way to ease the shock of being saved by someone they considered an enemy. She thought it would be easier to earn their trust this way.

But now, seeing the way Emerald stared at that wall...

She wasn’t so sure.

Emerald stood frozen for a long moment, her blade now lowered at her side, but her eyes were sharp, scanning. Feeling.

Her instincts as a knight honed through years of training and battle were whispering that something wasn’t right.

There was no mana leakage, no visual glitch in the illusion. But still, something felt... off.

She felt like the house was too perfect... like it was giving off too much warmth.

And that was enough to make her wary.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she slowly turned back around, facing Eva once again.

The tension in the air was palpable.

Elsa, Lela, and Cynthia glanced between the two, sensing something pass between them. An invisible spark. The kind that didn’t come from weapons or words, but from thoughts unspoken.

Elsa tilted her head slightly. "What’s going on?" she whispered.

Lela didn’t answer. Neither did Cynthia.

Eva let out a long breath and gave a small, sheepish smile. "I’ll... leave you to your thoughts for now."

She turned toward the door—the illusion of a door—and with a gentle sweep of her coat, disappeared behind it.

The moment she was gone, silence descended upon the room like a thick fog.

The girls stood in place, not speaking, not moving—just staring at one another. No words needed to be exchanged. The events of the day still hung over them like a storm cloud.

They had barely survived a battle with a mysterious shadowy heretic and his monstrous summons.

They had witnessed terrifying power, lost any semblance of control, and were only saved by the intervention of a stranger—an enemy, technically. Someone who wielded the same darkness that had nearly consumed them.

A heretic.

Elsa’s lips parted, but no words came out. Her usually composed face was etched with confusion.

Lela looked down at her feet, her legs still trembling from the memory of that giant fireball.

Cynthia clutched her hands together, her fingers glowing faintly with residual mana. "I still don’t understand," she finally said, her voice small. "Why would she help us? She said it was a favor... to a friend. But who?"

Emerald didn’t answer.

Her eyes were focused now, not on any wall, but inward.

Her thoughts churned. The thorn that had pulled them out of danger... that was darkness element. She recognized it.

She’d fought against it more times than she could count. It wasn’t just a coincidence that this "Eva" had shown up with the same power moments before they were annihilated.

And yet...

Eva hadn’t made a move against them. She could have easily struck them down while they were exhausted and disoriented. But she didn’t.

Instead, she had pulled them into this... fake house. Protected them. Fed them. Spoke to them calmly.

Emerald didn’t trust her.

But trust wasn’t the same thing as acknowledgment.

"She’s strong," Emerald finally muttered, her voice breaking the silence. "And smart. Her illusion magic is flawless. If I hadn’t felt the difference in the air around that wall, I wouldn’t have suspected a thing."

Elsa’s eyes widened. "Wait... illusion?"

Lela looked up too. "You’re saying this place isn’t real?"

Emerald nodded.

"Then where are we really?" Cynthia asked.

"A cave. Likely deep underground."

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